


Read Me Your Scripture (And I Will Twist It)

by Aerica_Menai



Series: 21st Century Destiel [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: (yes that makes her Irene Adler I couldn't help myself), Cas dealing with his homophobic family, Cas' Grandma Irene coming to the rescue, Christmas, Claire and Kaia being taken in by the Winchesters, F/F, Homophobia, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Donna Hanscum/Jody Mills, Short confrontation at a GSA meeting where Claire verbally smacks down a mean girl, Thanksgiving Dinner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:07:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27436330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aerica_Menai/pseuds/Aerica_Menai
Summary: When Cas answers a call from his cousin Claire, asking for his help, he had no idea what it would eventually lead to. Claire and Kaia find an accepting home, Cas finally confronts his family and his issues with them, and holidays are celebrated!
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Kaia Nieves/Claire Novak
Series: 21st Century Destiel [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1951873
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	1. Cas I

**Author's Note:**

> So before I say anything else...Destiel happened, for real on-screen?? Still in some shock over that! I'm personally in the camp of oh-my-god-it-HAPPENED and there's-still-two-episodes-left-to-fix-it, so overall I'm hopeful - but I also understand if that's not your reaction. I hope you can enjoy this fic anyway :)
> 
> This time we switch between Cas' and Claire's POV. There's definitely some angst, but overall this is a pretty fluffy fic, promise!
> 
> Title from 21st Century by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Cas had been about to meet Dean for dinner when he heard his phone ringing. He immediately answered when he saw the caller ID. “Claire?”

“Hey, Cassie,” came her exhausted-sounding reply.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, mind starting to whir through some pretty horrible possibilities. 

Her chuckle interrupted his train of thought. “Same old Cassie. I’m fine – well, fine for now. I just – I need a place to stay, for a little while.”

Cas sighed. “Big fight with your parents?”

“…Something like that. But – can I – ”

“I don’t think you staying in my dorm room would be acceptable to either the school or my roommate,” Cas gently cut her off, “but one of my friends happens to have family in the area; I’m sure they could clear out a room for you.”

“That would be awesome, Cas,” she breathed in relief. “Who should I – ” 

“I’ll handle that side of things – first, where are you?”

“Here on campus, actually,” Claire replied awkwardly. “But I wasn’t sure where your dorm was, so we’re just sitting outside – ”

“Claire. Who’s we?”

“Um. Me and Kaia. She’s a friend of mine…she needs somewhere to crash too.”

Cas rubbed his forehead exasperatedly. “Should I bother to ask?”

“Nope,” she replied firmly. 

“Okay. Okay, two teenagers who need a place to stay for a while – any time frame for that?”

“Not yet,” came the tight reply.

Cas let out a sigh. “We’ll figure something out. For now, I know the Winchesters won’t mind taking you in – let me just ask my friend if I can borrow his car and I’ll meet you, we’ll drive over to their house, alright?”

“Thank you, Cassie, I owe you huge,” she breathed.

“What else is family for?” Cas quipped. “Stay where you are, I’ll text you for more details after I talk to Dean, okay?”

“Got it,” Claire agreed before hanging up.

Cas grimaced at his phone. Dean was not going to happy; but taking care of his cousin came first.

*~*

Dean raised an eyebrow. “So – your cousin Claire called you out of the blue, asking for a place to stay, and you volunteered Mom?”

Cas sighed. “I know, I should have asked first, but – ” 

“No, you’re right, Mom would be happy to, I’m sure,” Dean steamrolled on. “I’m just – your cousin?”

“My only cousin,” Cas explained. “She’s only a couple years younger than we are, but she’s…recently had some friction with her parents. If she reached out to me, it was bad – and I’d rather her be somewhere I know is safe.”

“Of course,” Dean murmured. “Alright, let’s go pick up cousin Adler and head out.”

Cas did a double-take. “Dean, no, I – ”

“No buts, Cas, you’re worried and upset; I don’t want you driving in that condition, especially when you’ve only driven to Mom’s a couple times. Besides, we can always postpone date night to when we’re home.”

Cas sighed. “I suppose. Alright, well – Claire brought a friend with her, so it’ll be two teen girls we’re taking, not just one. We should probably let your mom know on the way there, and…” Cas bit his lip. “I’m not out to Claire yet. I don’t mind telling her about you being my boyfriend, but…I don’t want to navigate the whole ace thing yet, if possible.”

“My lips are sealed,” Dean promised. “Let’s go pick up the princess and the basket case.”

Cas chuckled at the Breakfast Club reference; they had watched that movie recently. “Not sure how accurate that is, but yeah – let me just text Claire.”

*~*

To neither boys’ surprise, Mary was happy to take the two girls in; she started tidying up the guest room as she continued to talk with them on their walk to meet Claire and Kaia, asking about their studies and what had been going on in their lives. Cas cut Dean off in the middle of his moaning over a test that he worried he did horribly on (but Cas knew he almost certainly did perfectly well on). “Look, there she is.”

“Alright, Mom, we gotta go, but we’ll see you tonight!”

“Drive safe, love you!” she immediately replied before hanging up.

Cas raised an eyebrow at Claire’s outfit, looking far more punk than he ever would have imagine his aunt and uncle approving, but managed to bite his tongue.

Claire rolled her eyes and slowly, sarcastically gave him a spin. “Go on, say it.”

“I was just wondering…whether Aunt Amelia knows that you’ve been hiding that in the back of your closet,” Cas replied delicately.

Claire snorted. “Yeah, Cassie, Mom does know about this outfit – handpicked by her, obviously,” she deadpanned.

Cas sighed. “Well, her opinion aside, I have to admit it…suits you.”

Claire offered him a shy smile. “Thanks, Cassie. And – this is Kaia.” She gestures to the girl next to her.

“Hello, Kaia,” Cas greeted her, hand outstretched, only for Kaia to flinch and retreat behind Claire. “Apologies, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Cas immediately offered as he pulled his hand back. “I’m Castiel – Cas – Claire’s cousin, and this – ” He felt his face grow hotter as he cleared his throat. “This is my boyfriend, Dean.”

Dean gave the two girls an awkward wave as Claire gaped at Cas. “Oh my god, Cassie – your parents are going – ” 

“To never find out, hopefully,” Cas quickly interrupted, ignoring the slight flinch he felt Dean give behind him. “I’ll explain later, I promise,” he muttered under his breath in Dean’s direction before forcing a smile. “Now! You two ready for a car ride?”

The two girls exchange glances, Kaia’s fearful while Claire’s fell somewhere between pleading and encouraging, before turning to face Cas and nodding. 

“Then let’s go,” Cas turned and started walking towards where Dean told him his car was parked. “We’ve got a bit of a drive ahead of us.”

*~*

Dean quickly caught up to him, the girls hanging behind a little. “So. Parents that bad, huh?” his boyfriend commented.

Cas groaned. “You have no idea. And it’s not that I’m ashamed or anything, I just – they’re so awful.” He rubbed a hand through his hair. “I don’t – I don’t want to expose you to that. You don’t deserve it.”

“Hey, hey,” Dean comforted, grabbing his hand and interlocking their fingers. “I can take some parental nastiness.”

Cas snorted.

“Hey, I totally can,” Dean defended himself. “And if they’re that bad, you shouldn’t have to take them on all by yourself.”

Cas sighed. “Maybe. But for now, let it go. Okay?” he asked sternly.

Dean pouted but finally nodded his agreement. 

Cas squeezed his hand. “Thank you for trying to protect me, I appreciate it.”

Dean grinned back. “What else are boyfriends for?”

“Hell of a lot more than that, from what I’ve heard,” came Claire’s cheeky reply from behind them.

Dean buried his burning face into Cas’ shoulder as Cas sighed. “No traumatizing my boyfriend, please, Claire.”

Claire snickered but obliged, raising her hands in surrender. “Got it, Cassie. How much farther to this car?”

“Not much farther,” Dean replied. “Just a block or two, and then you guys can rest.”

Both girls nodded. 

“So,” Dean continued, deciding to change the subject before Claire got any more ideas, “don’t suppose you’d be willing to tell us why you two are here and not home?”

Claire scowled while Kaia’s entire stance stiffened. “You really wanna know, asshole?”

Dean shrugged. “Not if you don’t want to talk about it yet, no.”

“Oh,” Claire deflated as Kaia relaxed again. “…So what’s the deal with where we’re staying, again?”

“Oh, the Winchester household,” Cas jumped in to explain. “Dean’s mother, Mary, and his younger brother, Sam, both live there – Sam’s around your age – and Bobby Singer is a friend of Mary’s who lives next door; he’s often around as well. They’re…wonderful,” Cas smiled as he remembered the rollercoaster adventure of his last trip. “Very kind and welcoming people.”

Dean snorted. “Of course they rolled out the red carpet for *you*, Cas, you’re family now.”

Cas rolled his eyes. “In any case, I can’t imagine you two having any trouble while you’re there.”

Claire bit her lip. “And…just for a little while…you promise you won’t tell anyone where we are?”

Cas and Dean exchanged glances. “I – I promise,” Cas finally offered reluctantly, and Dean nodded.

Claire offered them a relieved smile. “Thank you. It won’t be forever, I promise. I just – we just need some time.”

Cas nodded. “Understood,” he replied, even as Dean gave him a worried glance.

Then they arrived at the car and all piled in, Dean’s gaze promising Cas that his boyfriend was definitely grilling him later.

*~*

The two girls passed out in the backseat almost immediately, leaving Dean free to interrogate his boyfriend – quietly. “Cas, what the hell?”

Cas threw his hands up. “I honestly don’t know, Dean. Claire has definitely made a number of…unsanctioned trips before this, but – she’s never been this…scared, before.” Cas bit his lip. “I think this might be more than just some teenage rebellion.”

Dean glanced at him. “You think?”

Cas rubbed a hand along his face. “Both my parents and hers are intensely religious, with all the old-fashioned morals and prejudices; if her parents caught her with Kaia…I don’t know, Dean, it’s possible they kicked her out.”

Dean blew out a breath. “You think they’re dating, then?”

Cas snorted. “Whether they are or aren’t, all it takes is an assumption on the part of her parents, and then – ” He waved a hand. “Then, it doesn’t matter,” he finished.

“I hope you’re wrong, Cas,” Dean finally whispered.

“Me too,” Cas whispered back. “She’s smart and opinionated and brave and – and she doesn’t deserve this bullshit,” he muttered as he twisted in his seat to check that the girls were still sleeping. 

“Well, you know they’ll be safe under my mom’s roof. Between her and Bobby, pretty sure there’s nothing they can’t handle. It’ll be okay, Cas – they’ll be okay.” Dean grabbed Cas’ hand and gave a comforting squeeze.

Cas just nodded back, forcing a smile to his face.

*~*

After Cas and Dean had carefully woken the girls, letting them know they had arrived at the Winchester household, they waited until the two teens – more specifically, Claire – had squared her shoulders and entered the house like she was expecting a fight, Kaia her quiet shadow trailing behind. 

Neither girl was expecting Mary Winchester emerging with a smile and a hug for both of them. “Hello, hello, welcome! I hope you two don’t mind sharing the guest bedroom? It is only one bed, but it’s a double, should be plenty of room for both of you skinny things! Looks like we have a lot of feeding to do,” she nodded to herself as she assessed her two houseguests. 

“Cas! Dean! Any luggage in the car?”

“Nope,” Dean replied as he locked the car doors.

Mary opened her arms. “Well then, come and hug your poor old mother who stayed up waiting all night!”

Dean rolled his eyes as Cas fairly leapt into Mary’s arms, always up for her maternal affection. Mary gave him a good squeeze. “Don’t worry, Cas, we’ll take good care of them,” she whispered in his ear. 

Cas nodded as he squeezed her back.

“And to think that my own son refuses to hug me,” she wailed melodramatically into Cas’ shoulder as Dean tried to pass by her. 

“Oh my god, Mom, I was just here last weekend – but fine,” Dean grumped as he backtracked. 

Mary quickly swept him into a bone-cracking hug. “Maybe so, but as your mother, I have the right to request hugs. I carried you for nine months, kiddo, not to mention – ” 

“Alright, alright, I was a terror of a child and took years off your life, I’ve heard it a million times,” Dean grumbled. “Can I please go shower and get into bed?”

“Alright, you ungrateful miscreant, scat. Cas and I’ll get the girls settled.”


	2. Claire I

Claire kept glancing at Cassie with a confused expression she knew was on her face. Neither she nor her cousin had ever lived in a house that felt this…warm, and she wasn’t quite sure what to do about it – if anything. Mary was friendly, chattering away as she fluffed their pillows and – when she realized that Claire and Kaia hadn’t brought any extra clothes or luggage with them – bustled off to find extras elsewhere in the house.

Cassie patted her shoulder. “I know, it’s – different, here, but I swear, Mary is actually as kind as she seems. You two will be safe here, you have my word,” her cousin promised.

Claire bit her lip. “And – Sam? Bobby?” 

Cassie smiled. “Sam’s harmless; the worst he’ll do is pepper you with too many questions. Which, if he does, just set Mary or Dean on him,” Cassie confided. “As for Bobby…his bark is a hell of a lot worse than his bite. He’s gruff at first, but I think he’ll warm up to you two quickly. He probably won’t come over until tomorrow, though, you won’t have to worry about him for a while,” Cassie continued quickly as Kaia visibly grew more nervous. 

“And, if there’s any problems – ” Cassie led Claire out the guest room door and pointed down the hall. “Dean and I will be in that room over there. You can absolutely come get me if you need me.”

Claire wrinkled her nose. “And you two will be…decent?”

Cassie blushed. “Claire! We’re not going to be – doing anything under his mother’s roof!”

Claire stared at her cousin before sighing. “Okay, if you promise.”

“Cross my heart.”

“Okay,” Claire gulped, as Mary reappeared. “Then I – I guess I’ll see you tomorrow morning?”

“Sounds good,” Cassie replied. He opened his arms, and Claire took the offered hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” he whispered quietly before letting her go and giving her a sad smile.

“I’m fine,” Claire replied gruffly. “Now go cuddle your boyfriend, you rebel.”

“I think I will,” he retorted as he left.

And then Mary was a whirlwind, placing towels, hair products, soap and extra clothes on the bed as she explained that there was only one bathroom on this floor, but everyone else was going straight to bed, so it was theirs if they wanted to shower before going to sleep.

Claire raised an eyebrow at Kaia, who shrugged but then nodded. “Guess I’m showering first,” the blonde stated as she collected her set of toiletries.

Mary beamed at her. “Wonderful! Here, the bathroom’s this way,” and she led Claire to the door. “If you need anything else, just call – I’ll be up for a while longer!”

“Thank you,” Claire replied quietly, before shutting herself into the bathroom. 

As she lathered up her hair, her mind wandered back to the chain of events that had gotten her here…

*~*

She and Kaia had planned to meet up for lunch in town that day; it got Kaia out of the orphanage for a little while, and Claire got the chance to (maybe) get a chance to take the girl she liked on a date. Claire took Kaia to her favorite coffeeshop, where she knew the barista and the baker could be convinced to sneak her some day-old or experimental pastries. 

In any case, Claire loved it there and – as she hoped – Kaia loved it too. The interior of the shop was always bustling, so Claire and Kaia took their goods outside, where it was much more quiet. 

The two girls spent most of the afternoon talking and laughing, enjoying their time together. Finally Claire worked up the courage to ask Kaia if she might want to meet up like this again, soon?

“Another date, you mean?” Kaia teased.

Claire blushed before squaring her shoulders and nodding. “Yeah. Another date,” she replied.

Kaia smiled softly. “I’d like that.”

Claire had opened her mouth to reply when she heard a nasally reply from behind her.

“A date, huh?”

She whipped around to see a nasty smile on her uncle Zachariah’s face. “Well, well, well – wouldn’t have expected you to succumb to such base desires, niece,” he chided. “Unless, you have an explanation…?”

Claire swallowed. She knew her uncle was incredibly homophobic – part of why she had tried so hard to keep her budding interest in other girls under wraps before now; but…she couldn’t – wouldn’t – dismiss Kaia like that. She was opening her mouth to say something when Kaia jumped in first. “What explanation would she need? It’s none of your business,” she sneered.

Claire winced as her uncle’s slimy grin became an aggressive glare. “Really? None of my business? That’s your tactic?” he taunted. “All it would take is a word from me, letting them know that their little girl was *unnatural,* and her parents would not only toss her out on the street, they’d thank me for letting them know.” He lowered his voice to a sibilant hiss. “So tell me, you ugly little bitch, are you sure it isn’t any of my business?”

Kaia gulped, shrinking in on herself, and Claire jumped up to block Zachariah’s view of her. “Enough! Leave her alone,” she demanded. “I – we were only talking about a shopping date,” she lied desperately.

“So you think me a fool, niece?” Zachariah replied softly. “Very well. I’ll play along. Enjoy your shopping *date* plans, but remember – I’ll be watching.” And with that, he strode off, whistling.

Claire sank back into her seat. Her uncle was a piece of shit – the chances that he wasn’t immediately heading to her house to inform her parents and get her kicked out, like he threatened, were miniscule. And now – now he would blame Kaia for her “being unnatural.” Considering the assholes running the orphanage were already looking for a reason to get rid of Kaia…that was trouble her friend – girlfriend? – didn’t need.

“Your uncle is a fucking piece of work,” Kaia muttered.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Claire mumbled. “He’s going to be a fucking bastard about this, but – ” She hesitated. “We can probably avoid it if we…leave.”

Kaia just stared at her. “Leave? Leave and go where?”

Claire bit her lip. “My cousin. He’s had my back before, and I’m willing to bet he will again. He’ll find somewhere for us to stay, I know it.”

Kaia sighed. “Well, it’s not like I have much waiting for me here. Where’s your cousin?”

“He’s at the university. We’ll head to campus, and I’ll call him when I get there. He’ll take care of us.”

*~*

Claire shook herself out of the memory. No point dwelling on the past – she was right, and Cas had made sure she and Kaia had a safe place to stay for the foreseeable future. 

And a pretty decent place at that, Claire commented to herself as she took in the nice bathroom and different hair and soap products cluttering the ledges. It was strange to have choices what to put in her hair or on her body; but nice, she decided as she sniffed some of the bottles, stopping when she found a lovely vanilla scented shampoo-conditioner set and a lavender body soap. She wrapped herself in the thick, warm towel, enjoying the feeling for a few minutes before hanging it up and getting dressed in the pajamas Mary had given her. 

Clean, warm and a little dazed at the luxury of the feeling, Claire headed back to her and Kaia’s room. Kaia jumped a little when she walked in, but relaxed when she saw it was Claire. “It’s okay,” Claire promised, reaching for her hand and giving it a soft squeeze when Kaia bridged the distance. “It’s a really nice bathroom. But…do you want me to watch the door? Just in case?”

Kaia hesitated but nodded, collecting her pajamas and towel the same way Claire had. Claire leaned on the wall next to the bathroom door as Kaia entered. “I’ll be right here,” she promised. And Kaia smiled gratefully, closing the door behind her.

“Claire, why aren’t you in bed?” Mary asked from behind her, and Claire couldn’t quite contain the yelp that started to escape as she spun around. “Oh, Mary,” she breathed, clutching her chest. “Um. Kaia’s not used to…shared spaces being safe, so. It just – it makes her feel better, and it’s not a big deal,” she muttered, feeling her face heat up.

Mary smiled at her. “You’re a good friend, honey.”

Claire blushed more. “Well. Um. I…try. It’s kinda my fault we’re here, anyway.”

Mary’s eyes sharpened. “Oh? Is it?”

Claire pressed her lips together. Damn, she hadn’t meant to say that. 

Mary sighed. “I understand if you’re not ready to tell me yet, but if or when you are…I’m here.” She gave a warm smile and walked back down the hall. “It looks like you girls are just fine, so I’m off to bed. Sleep well,” she called as she entered what must have been her bedroom.

Claire blew out a sigh. That definitely could have gone worse.

She snapped back to attention as Kaia opened the door, looking pretty adorable in the floppy pajamas. “All good?” she asked quietly.

Claire nodded. “Yeah, yeah all good. Ready to get some sleep?”

“Ohhh, am I,” Kaia groaned, smiling at Claire’s replying smirk.

The two girls settled in, Kaia far more used to sharing a bed than Claire but – despite Claire’s original misgivings – it wasn’t long until both of them were deeply asleep.


	3. Cas II

Cas moaned as Dean got out of bed. “You’re letting out all the waaarmth.”

“Too bad, Cas – we should get up early so your cousin and her friend don’t have to face Sam and Bobby on their own.”

Cas grumbled but couldn’t deny the truth of that statement, so he dragged himself out of bed and got ready to face the day. Well, ready to drink a few cups of coffee, anyway.

When they got down there, Mary and Sam were up but neither of the girls nor Bobby were in the kitchen. “I sent Bobby a text, warning him about our new houseguests, and he thought he should probably wait til dinner to make an appearance,” Mary told them before either of the boys could ask.

“That was very thoughtful of him,” Cas smiled as he emerged from his second cup of coffee. “I’ll have to thank him later.”

“So…why, again, are your cousin and her friend here?” Sam asked. He withered immediately under Dean’s glare. “Not that I have any problem with it, really,” he yelped. “I’m just – curious.”

Cas sighed as Dean’s glare was joined by Mary’s. “It’s okay, Sam, I understand what you meant.” Mary and Dean both turned away, grumbling, and Sam mouthed Cas a quick “thank you.” “My cousin and I have…very intolerant parents, and from what I understand, the two girls were perceived as being on a date and…neither of their households are friendly to that sort of relationship. So. I was hoping for them to stay for a little while, until I can come up with alternate accommodations. This isn’t the first time Claire’s run away, just the most suddenly, from what I understand, so – they just need a place to stay until one of us can come up with something more permanent.”

“Don’t even worry about it, Cas, those two are welcome to stay as long as they need to, no need for alternate accommodations – you’re family, so they’re family,” Mary finished sternly, pointing a spatula threateningly in his direction.

Cas smiled shakily and cleared his throat. “I – thank you, Mary. I’ll make sure that they know that.”

“Know what?” came Claire’s suspicious voice as she walked into the doorway, Kaia not far behind. 

“That you girls are welcome to stay as long as you want, no strings attached. You’re family now, and that’s what family does, helps out when you need them to,” Mary stated firmly. 

Claire let out a shocked laugh. “Is she for real, Cassie?” she asked incredulously. 

Cas shrugged. “Seems like it’s the Winchester family motto, and I for one am grateful for it,” he smiled, coming over to give Claire a hug. “They really are that nice here, cousin,” he whispered. “Give them a chance to prove it.”

Claire pulled back and stared at him for a minute before nodding. “I will,” she promised, turning to hold a hand out to Kaia. Kaia took it and followed her to sit down at the kitchen table across from Sam. “Hey.”

“Hi!” Sam greeted brightly. “I’m Sam.”

Claire blinked. “Hey, Sam. I’m Cassie’s cousin Claire, and this is my – ” She flicked a glance at Kaia before taking a deep breath and finishing, “girlfriend, Kaia.”

Cas beamed.

Sam snorted. “Cassie? Where did that come from?”

Cas groaned as Claire smirked. “Toddler me had a very hard time with Castiel, and thus – Cassie! And now it’s just habit – not to mention it annoys him so much,” she finished in a stage whisper.

The rest of the room chuckled as Cas rolled his eyes. “Alright, Claire-Bear, two can play at that game,” he threatened. 

Kaia gasped delightedly as Claire whipped around to shoot a glare as Cas. “Watch it,” she gritted out.

Cas just smirked. 

“As much fun as this is to watch…” Dean drawled as Mary giggled behind him. “Who’s up for breakfast?”

*~*

Once the food was finished – pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon galore – the Winchesters and guests descended on breakfast like the hungry vultures they were. Sam and Dean in particular bickered over the amounts Dean dished out, Sam claiming that Dean was skimping on his portion while Dean just growled for Sam to save some for everyone else.

Admittedly, Sam did have quite large portions of everything in front of him, Cas noticed, but he didn’t say anything. Eventually Mary stepped in and promised that Dean would make more for Sam later *if* he ate everything in front of him and was actually still hungry. Both boys grumbled but accepted the compromise. 

Kaia, on the other hand, had pretty much already inhaled the food put in front of her in just the time Sam and Dean had been arguing. Cas had already watched Claire sneaking food from her plate to Kaia’s – and got quite the glare when his cousin noticed him noticing. Cas pointedly turned to Sam and started asking about what had been happening with him; both boys had been too busy for more than infrequent, inconsequential texts over the last couple weeks, both in the middle of big projects. He wouldn’t tell Claire, since it would probably only upset her, but he thought her sharing her food with Kaia was sweet.

*~*

After breakfast, Mary suggested taking Kaia and Claire out shopping, to get some clothes and anything else they might want or need – new cellphones, Claire had muttered, after which Cas had made sure Claire was supplied with his credit card. The credit card that his parents paid for, anyway – Cas rarely used it, and he would have to come up with a pretty good reason for the charges, but it was far better than anyone else having to deal with it. Claire smirked when she recognized it. “Well, if that bastard is footing the bill…” she started gleefully.

Cas sighed. “Just not too outrageous, please? I am still going to have to come up with an explanation at some point.”

Claire grew serious at the reminder. “Right. I – right. We won’t go too nuts, promise.”

Cas smiled gently. “As long as you end up with everything that you need and at least a couple things you two want, I’ll think of something to tell them.”

Claire smiled back and gave him a quick hug. “Thanks, Cassie.”

“Alright, girls, ready to head out?” Mary asked. 

Both girls nodded, and off they went.

*~*

Cas wasn’t surprised that Bobby showed up not long after they left. “Guess there’s a full house here now, huh?” the older man asked.

Sam and Cas nodded as Dean let out a sigh. “Yeah, it’s – it’s a little weird, not going to lie, but…” He shrugged. “Better than the alternative.”

Bobby nodded. “Anything I should know?” he asked Cas.

“Kaia definitely seems skittish, so I’d suggest minimal contact with her – not that Claire would allow much, she’s been pretty protective,” Cas sighed. “Claire grew up in an austere and religious household, but Kaia…I don’t know exactly where she’s been living, exactly, but it can’t have been good. Both of them are going to need time to…adjust, is my guess.”

“Hmm,” is all Bobby offered in response. “And how long-term is this going to be?”

Cas shrugged. “I’m guessing a pretty long while.”

Bobby sighed. “Guess I should start calling up their school – schools? – and see about getting them transferred to the local one here.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea,” Cas replied thoughtfully. “I know Claire went to that convent school, probably Kaia too, one minute – ” He texted Mary to ask the girls. “Yep, both at the Holy Spirit Academy.”

“Got it, I’ll get started on those calls,” Bobby grunted as he ambled off.

Cas chuckled and went off to spend some time with Sam; he wasn’t sure where Dean had disappeared to, but it would be nice to spend some solo time with his friend.

*~*

Unfortunately, said time was interrupted not half an hour later by a call – from Claire’s parents. “Aunt Amelia?” Cas asked as he eased Dean’s bedroom door shut behind him.

“Castiel, why is Holy Spirit calling us and asking about our daughter transferring to a public high school?” his aunt rapped out – but Cas could hear the fear underneath it.

He sighed. “She…she showed up on campus yesterday, and asked me for a safe place to stay.” He heard her gasp but he forged on. “She also asked me not to tell you where she is.”

“But Castiel – ”

“Aunt Amelia. Right now, I can promise you, that she’s safe and well taken care of. If I tell you where, and you show up, she won’t trust me, she’ll disappear again – and then, she might not end up somewhere safe.”

He paused. “Do you trust me?”

She sighed. “I do, I do. You’ll…you’ll make sure she’s safe?”

“Of course,” Cas promised. “She will be perfectly fine where she is right now. She’s out right now, otherwise I’d ask if she wanted to talk to you, but – ”

“No, no,” his aunt interrupted. “As long as she’s safe, and you promise you’ll let me know if that changes…clearly she wants space.”

Cas bit his lip. “Claire…made it sound like she wasn’t welcome at home.”

His aunt made an offended noise. “I – I wouldn’t say that, exactly – ”

Cas sighed. “What would you say, exactly?”

“Your father told us that he found her – canoodling! With another young woman! In a public space!” his aunt sputtered. “That’s – ”

“Worth getting kicked out?” Cas asked numbly.

The line was silent.

“I’ll tell you if anything changes with Claire, but for now, just – let the school know whatever they need to let the transfer happen. And I wouldn’t recommend calling again,” Cas gritted out before hanging up. He took a couple deep breaths, trying to remember that despite their religion-fueled prejudices his aunt and uncle were generally decent people; they would come to their senses sooner or later…probably.

Cas shook off his pointless thoughts – whatever happened with her parents, Claire was safe for now – and rejoined Sam.

*~*

Cas was hoping that would be the end of having to deal with his relatives – especially once Bobby returned saying that the school transfer was well underway. He may have been hoping against hope, but at least he had an uninterrupted evening.

Which was good, because navigating Claire and Kaia meeting Bobby for the first time was stressful enough.

Both girls were, as expected, very wary of the gruff older man, but – to Cas’ surprise – the two girls were quickly won over once Bobby mentioned that he had gotten them transferred to a nearby public high school.

“My school, actually,” Sam piped up. “So I’ll be able to show you around, and introduce you to people – it’ll be good!”

“Yeah,” Claire nodded in reply, looking a little shell-shocked – and Kaia’s responding beam spoke for itself. 

Cas hadn’t realized how bad off the girls were at Holy Spirit, if transferring was such a relief to Kaia; he was glad they were getting the chance to start over.

By the end of dinner, Cas was too tired to do much; he gave Dean a quick kiss, gave Claire a hug, wished everyone else a good night, and went to bed early.

Which, as it turned out, meant that he got a decent amount of sleep before his father decided to call him at far-too-early in the morning.

Cas was frozen, staring at the phone’s caller ID like it was a rattlesnake as it rang, and rang, and rang, finally falling silent when Dean tore it out of his hands and mashed the decline call button. “Cas? What the hell?” Dean asked groggily.

When the phone started ringing again, Cas grabbed it and ran to the bathroom, locking the door behind him. “Father,” he finally answered curtly.

“Ah, Castiel! It only took two calls this time to wake you up – progress!” came his father’s smug voice.

Cas took a deep breath. “And the reason for your call?” he asked calmly.

“Very well, to business. What’s this I hear about you talking to your Aunt Amelia, yesterday?” he asked sharply.

Cas rubbed at his forehead. “I did talk to her, yes.”

“And so you know where Claire is?”

“Yes, as I told her.”

“But you won’t tell her where?”

“No, and I won’t. Claire trusts me right now, and I don’t want her running off – ” 

“Of course, my boy, of course. But you’ll tell me, won’t you?”

Cas blinked. That was not the tack he had expected, so his answer came out more bluntly than intended. “No.”

“No?”

“Father, if anyone – anyone – from the family shows up, I think that Claire will run. That means you or Mother as well, not just her parents.”

His father hummed. “And she’s safe, right now?”

“She is.”

“You’re keeping an eye on her?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, son. Good job.” And with that, his father hung up. Cas just stared at the silent phone in his hand, wondering what on earth that had been about. 

He was interrupted by banging on the bathroom door. Cas fumbled open the lock, to see Sam’s grouchy face. “Cas, what the hell were you doing in there at this hour?”

Cas stared at him. “Talking to my father? For some unknown reason?”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “In the bathroom?”

“Privacy?” Cas eked out around a huge yawn.

Sam shook his head. “Go get some more sleep, Cas.”

Cas did as ordered, crawling back into bed with Dean and passing back out.

(Later, he’d wish that he’d been awake enough to realize exactly what his father was up to, but for the moment – peaceful sleep.)


	4. Claire II

Claire was enjoying breakfast with the Winchester family – again, there was plenty of food and cheerful conversation, Kaia was finally starting to open up again, they were going to start over at a new school…she started to let herself hope.

Of course, that was when the doorbell rang.

Mary and Bobby exchanged glances, Bobby going to answer it.

“Jody? What are you doing here?” came his surprised voice.

Claire and Kaia froze when “Jody” walked in – it was Sheriff Mills.

“Claire. Kaia. You girls want to tell me anything?”

Claire scowled. “Depends. Who sent you here?”

The sheriff raised an eyebrow. “An anonymous concerned citizen.”

“Right,” Claire snorted. “I bet he was. Did he tell you why we were here, or just that we shouldn’t be here?”

Mills glanced at Bobby. “Admittedly, I was surprised to hear that you two ended up here, of all places,” she slowly replied.

Claire sighed. “You know my cousin Castiel, I’m sure?”

Mills nodded. 

“Well, he’s friends with Sam here,” she gestured at the younger Winchester brother sitting across from her, “so when I asked Castiel for a place to stay, after my parents kicked me out for planning a date with a girl, this is where he suggested.” Claire glared at the sheriff. “And they’ve been great. Way better than my parents or my aunt and uncle ever managed. No wonder he loves it here so much.”

The sheriff – who had raised her eyebrow when Claire mentioned getting kicked out – let out a sigh as she finished. “And of course that bastard didn’t mention why you two had left,” she grumbled to herself (but still loudly enough for Claire to hear and start to hope that maybe, just maybe this wouldn’t end with being dragged kicking and screaming back to her parents’ house). 

“If you had asked me, I would have told you that,” Bobby added gruffly. The sheriff turned to glare at him. 

“You know how Adler can get, I just wanted him off my back,” she snapped, before turning back to face the table. (Claire did not miss the wink Bobby sent her behind Mills’ back.)

“Alright, Claire. You and Kaia do look pretty happy here, and Bobby wouldn’t be part of anything shady, I know him too well for that.” She blew out a sigh. “I’ll run interference as much as I can, but Adler knowing this address is not a good sign. How did he even figure it out?”

Claire scowled. “I have no idea! My phone’s been off, so he can’t have got it from me – ” 

“Oh,” Sam whispered across from her.

Claire and the sheriff both turned to face him. “Yes, Sam?” the sheriff asked.

Sam wilted a little in his seat. “I, uh – I found Cas in the bathroom super early in the morning. He – he said he had been talking to his dad.”

“Cassie wouldn’t have told,” Claire gritted out, eyes starting to burn. No way Cassie would have sold her out, he never had before – 

“Ah,” Mills sighed. “He took the call, so his phone was on. It’s very possible Adler tracked Castiel’s location after calling to – somehow – confirm that he was actually here with you, Claire. And then, once Adler had an address, he could send me to do his dirty work.” She scowled. “Well, fuck him.”

“Jody!” Mary scolded.

“Lighten up, Mary, no way they haven’t heard it before,” she replied grumpily. “Bet Claire over here agrees, even.”

Claire shrugged when Mary turned to her. “Yeah, can’t argue with that.”

“I can’t disagree with the sentiment, Jody, but you can still watch your language in my house,” Mary grumbled.

The sheriff rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, heard it before. I can always head over to Bobby’s if I bother you that much.”

Bobby smirked at the girls and Sam behind both women’s backs as Mary immediately folded. “No, no, you came all the way out here, you should have something to eat.”

So Jody joined the family at the table for a quick breakfast before heading back out. “And don’t you two worry,” she reassured the two girls, “now that I know, I can warn the rest of the department and keep them off your back as much as possible.”

“Thank you, Jody,” Kaia breathed gratefully, Claire nodding beside her.

“It’s my pleasure, honey,” Jody smiled at them before heading out.

The table was quiet for only a little while, Cassie stumbling in not long after Jody left with a more-awake Dean watching his every move like a hawk. “Coffeeee,” her cousin moaned. Dean chuckled but made sure Cassie had a cupful before he got anything for himself.

Claire let a small smile escape at the sight. It looked like Dean was well-practiced at taking care of Cassie; good. He could use someone looking after him.

Claire waited for Cassie to drink a couple cups of coffee and eat some of the food Dean had placed in front of him before asking, “So, Cassie. Did Uncle Zach call you today?”

Cassie frowned at her. “Actually, yes. He called at an ungodly hour, woke me up and – as far as I can remember – not for any real reason?”

Claire sighed. “Apparently, it was. The sheriff was here earlier.”

“What??” Dean and Cassie chorused, Dean whipping around to stare as Cassie’s eyes widened. 

“Claire, I swear, I didn’t tell him – ” her cousin pleaded before she interrupted.

“I know, cuz, I know you wouldn’t. Jody thought that when he called, it was to check if your phone was on and if you were in the same place as I was. If both of those were true, he could ping your phone and get the address.”

“Oh my god,” Cassie mumbled, burying his head in his hands. “I totally forgot about that. That was so dumb…” he whispered to himself as Dean came over to wrap a comforting arm around his shoulders.

“It’s fine, Cas, look – Claire and Kaia are here, Jody wouldn’t have left without them if she had to take them back. It’s okay, it’s not your fault,” Dean soothed.

Cassie buried his face in Dean’s shoulder but otherwise didn’t respond. 

Claire cleared her throat. “I promise, Cassie, it’s fine. Jody promised she’d keep them off our backs as much as she could – Uncle Zach messed up.”

“Yeah, he did – he messed with the wrong people this time,” came Kaia’s unexpected and determined voice.

Claire smiled at her kickass girlfriend. “Damn straight. So – Kaia and I are heading to a new school this week. Anything we should know before we head in, Sam?”

Sam started to chatter away about clubs and people he thought the two girls should meet, so Claire slipped her hand into Kaia’s and listened.


	5. Cas III

As Dean drove them back to campus the next day, Cas couldn’t help worrying. Yes, Claire and Kaia were safe in the Winchester house – for now. He had the feeling that his father wasn’t done by any means, that trying to sic Jody on them was only the first of many tactics he had ready. 

But, Cas realized, there really wasn’t much that he could do about it. He could guess and worry until his hair went gray, but he wouldn’t be able to figure out anything his father had planned until it was already happening. 

His father had always been like this – cold, calculating, taking pleasure in the downfall of others…and unfortunately, they were some of the many traits his parents had in common. They had always reveled in the failures of others, taking the opportunity to remind Cas that he was not to allow himself to become like them. And for his entire school career, Cas had been able to deliver the perfection that they required – perfect grades, chaste dates with his friend (and fellow member of the local church) Hannah, victories on the track field…

He had worked so hard to do exactly as his parents desired – and for what? He was no closer to gaining any love or support from them than he ever had, still only receiving quick pats on the head, rushed congratulations or a “we knew you could do it;” no pride at his achievements or real recognition. When Cas had figured out in his junior year that he was ace (and realized that this was something his parents would never accept from their “perfect” boy, that he wouldn’t marry Hannah and provide grandchildren to join their church as they expected), he knew he couldn’t stay in Rapid City and go to school there, as Hannah and many of his classmates were doing. Instead, he planned to go to college near Sioux Falls, where his mother’s sister Amelia and her family lived. If he planned to stray that far from his hometown, at least he had family living nearby.

And in the end, that was indeed the argument that convinced his parents that his moving five hours away to go to school was acceptable. As long as family was there – as long as Zachariah and Naomi had a way to keep an eye on him – they accepted Cas’ choice.

And it was so worth it. His parents visited rarely, he was able to fob off most of his aunt and uncle’s attention with weekly phone calls, Claire had a sympathetic ear in town, and – and now he had Dean and the Winchester family in his life. 

He wasn’t sure where he would be now without Sam and Dean, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as good of a place as he was currently. Now, he had family – *real* family to help him with the only blood relative he truly loved. Like Mary said, they were all family now, and – to quote Bobby – “family don’t end in blood.” 

Cas grabbed Dean’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze. Whatever his father decided to throw at them next, he and his family would figure it out.

*~*

And for a while, everything was fine. Cas concentrated on his classes and his life at school, his time with Dean; Claire texted him frequent updates – but nothing alarming, more halfhearted whining about homework, stories of her and Kaia’s growing friend group, or bragging about the great food Bobby was cooking at the Winchester house. 

Dean could always tell when his anxiety was starting to get out of hand and distracted him with a movie night, or an evening out with Charlie to discuss character ideas for the next D&D campaign. Cas always made sure Dean knew how grateful he was for the quiet intervention afterwards.

Before Cas knew it, Thanksgiving was right around the corner; luckily, his parents had never cared about the holiday and Cas was easily able to wiggle out of having to attend either at his home or at the Novak house. His aunt was unexpectedly subdued about his bowing out, but Cas decided to just take the easy out; now he could look forward to Thanksgiving with the Winchesters guilt-free. 

And it was going to be a large gathering, compared to Cas’ previous experiences. The Winchesters, Bobby, Bobby’s friend Ellen, her daughter Jo and her nephew Ash were the usual crowd, but this year additions Cas, Claire and Kaia were joined by Jody (at Mary’s invitation) and Jody’s friend Donna. Gabriel had mentioned at their last D&D session before break that he was planning a Thanksgiving dinner for one, since travelling back to his family was too expensive for such a short visit. At first Dean scoffed, thinking Gabriel was just playing another prank; but once he realized his friend was serious, he insisted that he – and anyone else in group who was interested – should join the Winchester Thanksgiving. All of them aside from Kevin took him up on it; Kevin had traditions with his mother that he didn’t want to abandon with such short notice, “but maybe we’ll both come next year!” Kevin smiled.

Mary was the “more the merrier” type and always had been, but even she was a little taken aback by how large their expected guest list had grown in such a short time. Luckily, Ellen was used to cooking for far more than fifteen people at a time and promised that she could whip up a big enough feast no problem – she’d just need use of their kitchen for longer than she had expected. Mary had no problem with that, and so the Harvelle family descended on the Winchester home early in the morning of Thanksgiving day. Ash quickly disappeared next door, to Bobby’s garage with the man himself, but Jo and Dean quickly got roped into kitchen duty. 

Cas offered to help, but Ellen shut that down quickly. “No idea what your skill level is, hon, and we’ve got more than enough cooks in here already. Shoo,” was her command, and Cas shooed. He spent some time with Sam, since they hadn’t been texting much with Cas in the middle of midterms right before break.

When Jody and Donna showed up, arms full of even more food, Cas was astonished. Exactly how much food was this dinner going to have?

The two women made their way into the kitchen, followed by Ellen ejecting Dean and Jo. 

They quickly settled with Cas and Sam, talking about their past years. “Yeah, Mom doesn’t like that I haven’t even looked at colleges, but – I’ve been running the Roadhouse with her! I don’t need to waste time and money on some fancy-ass degree when I’m already getting the experience I *really* need, right?”

Dean and Sam sighed, while Cas frowned. “I don’t know, Jo – even if you only went part-time and worked at the Roadhouse to help pay for it, you could probably learn at least something in a couple business or economics classes. Learn some tricks for making the restaurant even more successful than it already is – do you have a website or any social media pages to help grow your customer base?”

“Why would we need any of that?” Jo scoffed. “We’ve got a Yelp page – four point nine stars out of five, thank you very much – and word of mouth does the rest.”

Cas shrugged. “Here in town, maybe. But you could attract out-of-towners much more easily with a proper web presence.”

Jo scowled. “Don’t need to,” she muttered rebelliously.

“Joanna Beth! I think Cas has some very good points that you may want to think about,” Ellen scolded, appearing over her shoulder. 

“You could probably even talk about the past year of working as a gap year to better understand the industry you want to end up in,” Sam piped up. 

“Oh, that’s good,” Ellen pointed at Sam. “You hear that?”

“I hear you,” Jo grumbled. “I’ll think about it, alright? I’ll think about it.”

Ellen hmphed. “Guess I can’t ask for more than that.”

*~*

After Ellen disappeared back into the kitchen, it wasn’t long before the D&D group showed up – they had carpooled from campus together. Cas and Dean were happy to see their friends, but Dean was surprised to see Charlie and Dorothy holding hands. He stared for a minute before shooting Charlie a raised eyebrow.

She just blushed and shrugged.

Dean rolled his eyes and threw an arm around her shoulders. “Good for you, although I’m a little hurt you didn’t say anything,” he teased her lightly.

Charlie stuck her tongue out at him. “Cas didn’t need any hints to get it.”

Dean shot a dirty look at his boyfriend. “Et tu?”

Cas just shrugged. “What? I thought she had already told you. And that if she hadn’t, it was a for a reason and not your own obliviousness.”

Dean frowned darkly. “My boyfriend’s a traitor,” he muttered.

“Alright, alright, enough already, all this lovey-dovey stuff is too much! My girlfriend’s halfway across the country, jackasses, and all your flirty crap is just making me miss her more,” Gabriel whined from behind them, startling Dean into letting Charlie go. “Where’s the food? I was promised a feast.”

Dean smirked at Gabriel. “Dude, believe me, there’s going to be more than enough food to go around.”


	6. Claire III

Claire stared at all the food heaped on the groaning table. 

“I…I didn’t even know you could serve this much food at once,” Kaia whispered to her.

Claire nodded silently, awed. The Adler-Novak Thanksgivings had always been quiet, formal affairs, not much beyond small talk and an elegant dinner that never seemed to actually fill your stomach.

But this…so many people, all laughing and talking over one another! And the food – three different kinds of potatoes, mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, green beans, multiple turkeys, homemade cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, mac and cheese…and that was just what Claire could see.

Claire was distracted from all the food when she noticed that only a couple plates down – Kaia was sitting next to her, and Jody was sitting on Kaia’s other side and Donna on the other side of Jody – Jody was not only serving herself, but also Donna.

“Awww, that’s it?” Donna pouted as Jody scooped a decent-sized but not all that large portion of sweet potatoes onto her plate.

“Dean baked three different kinds of pie, Donna; there’s a lot of food to enjoy here and you’re going to want to save room for those,” Jody reminded her.

“I do love pie,” Donna sighed wistfully as she watched the sweet potato bowl continue down the table.

“You’ve got plenty on your plate,” Jody replied gruffly, and Claire thought that was the end of it – but she also saw Jody sneak some of her own sweet potatoes onto Donna’s plate later.

Donna beamed at Jody when she caught on. “Thank yoooou,” she sang as she scooped some up.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re welcome – but you better not complain when you don’t have room for pie!” Jody warned. 

*~*

Which is exactly what happened. But magically, Jody had brought a container for the pie Donna couldn’t eat – and that’s when it clicked for Claire. This was more than just being friends. And the realization that she wasn’t alone at this table in loving the woman sitting next to her ignited a warmth in her chest that no previous Thanksgiving came even close to.

Maybe, one day, she and Kaia would know each other that well too. Claire squeezed Kaia’s hand under the table. “I’m so glad we ended up here,” she whispered.

Kaia smiled at her. “Me too.”

*~*

After dinner, the kids migrated to the family room, sprawling out on the couch and the surrounding chairs. Dean and Gabriel were groaning, stomachs overly full and not happy about it. Cassie had “heartlessly abandoned” his boyfriend (Dean’s words, not Cassie’s) to spend some time with Claire and Kaia, wanting to make sure that they were doing well.

Claire was happy to tell him all about her classes, her new friends, Kaia’s awesome language skills…anything and everything. She was happy, really happy, and she wanted Cassie to know that. She thought he got the message, after all the smiling and listening he did.

Eventually Dean reclaimed his boyfriend, and as Cassie left, his and Dean’s friends came to introduce themselves. Claire and Kaia met Jo, who had plenty of fun stories from working at the Roadhouse to tell, funny enough to leave the girls in stitches at Jo’s wild gestures and voice imitations.

But Claire’s favorite part of the night was getting to spend time talking with Charlie and Dorothy – about college, joining their school’s GSA, D&D (which Kaia was very interested in, and Claire remained a little skeptical but willing to give it a try) and just…life. There weren’t that many years between the two couples, but Claire could so easily see how the older two were so much more comfortable in their own skins, in their relationship...

Claire wanted that for her and Kaia. Charlie’s stories made it pretty clear that joining – and eventually heading – her high school’s GSA made a big difference in her life, so Claire was determined to do the same. (Well, maybe not heading the club…certainly not at first.) After Thanksgiving break, once classes and club meetings start up again, Claire was going to attend a meeting, see what all the fuss was about, and – maybe – make more friends who *got it.* 

*~*

Claire took a deep breath before she walked into the room. As she had promised herself, here she was at her first GSA meeting. Kaia had originally planned to come with her, but she got unexpectedly tied up in working on a group project, so Claire was going in alone. She had supportive texts from Cassie, Dean, Sam and Charlie on her phone; she could do this. 

She busied herself with grabbing a plate of the food and a drink from what had been placed on a table, looking over the room. She recognized a girl from one of her classes, but didn’t approach her – or any of the other strangers. She’d stay and listen, probably speak up a little bit, but Claire wasn’t so sure that this was going to be the haven that Charlie had described. For an inclusive group, it looked pretty divided into cliques.

But Claire was going to give it the benefit of the doubt. She sat in one of the chairs nearest the door, farther away from the clustered cliques. 

“Since it looks like we have new member this time,” Claire suddenly realized the person standing at the front of the room was saying, “I think it would be a good idea to go around and introduce ourselves, yeah?”

Claire sunk lower in her seat. This might take a little while.

“I’m Kim, she/her, and I’m pan. And – let’s keep it going, to my right?”

Claire let all the names and orientations wash over her – it wasn’t a very mixed bag, mostly lesbian women and gay men, with Kimberly and only a couple other people deviating from the pattern.

The girl Claire recognized earlier – Christina? Christy? Something like that – was getting visibly more nervous as it gets closer and closer to her turn. 

But as Claire watched, she swallowed and stood up. “I’m Krissy, uh…they/them. I’m, uh…genderfluid.” She was interrupted by one of the other girls (Claire couldn’t remember her name, but she was blonde and sneering, so Claire dubbed her Regina) laughing rudely. 

“Oh my god, Krissy, seriously? You were as lesbian as the rest of us before break – what happened? Decided you wanted to stand out from the crowd?”

Claire slammed her feet on the floor. “Don’t be a bitch.”

“Excuse me?” Regina snapped, turning to face her. 

“I said – Don’t. Be. A. Bitch. Krissy found something out about – about themselves and they’re sharing with the group, taking a chance that the majority of us aren’t going to be small-minded assholes like yourself. Newsflash – identities can change. And reacting like this? Puts you a hell of a lot closer to the homophobic assholes in the world than a part of this community.”

Regina spluttered a bit, looking around the room for support, but everyone, even the friends she had seemed so close with before, avoided her eyes. 

“Fine, whatever, you losers,” she spat hatefully, gathering her things and stomping out of the room.

“Thanks,” Krissy said softly as they nodded at Claire.

“Yeah, of course,” Claire mumbled. “And, uh – I’m Claire. I’m new here and, uh – I’m…not exactly sure what my labels are, but I’m pretty happy to be dating my girlfriend, so. Yeah.”

“Welcome, Claire!” Kim spoke up. “Thank you for sharing, and for standing up to Rebecca.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Claire muttered, shuffling into a closer chair. “…It was the right thing to do.”

“Still,” Kim smiled at her.

Claire ducked her head, and sighed in relief when the rest of the introductions started back up. When she did finally stop doodling on some scrap paper and looked up, Krissy was looking at her. They nodded and smiled, and Claire smiled back.

*~*

After the meeting wrapped up, Krissy was quick to come up to Claire. “Thanks again, for that,” they started. “I knew Rebecca wasn’t my biggest fan, but…I hadn’t expected anything like that. Don’t know what the rest of the group would have done if you hadn’t said anything, so…yeah. Thanks.”

Claire shrugged. “You’re welcome.”

Krissy looked down at Claire’s doodles and lit up. “No way! Isn’t that from Fullmetal Alchemist?”

Claire blinked. “Uh – yeah, yeah, I got into it recently, and I – I like the symbol Ed has on his coat.”

“Got into it recently? So you’re not done? And – manga, first anime or second one?”

“…There’s two anime?”

Krissy frowned. “Tell me you’re reading the manga.”

Claire chuckled. “I am, I am.”

“Oh thank god,” Krissy exhaled. “And – you haven’t finished it yet, right?”

Claire shook her head. “Nah, only got to Ed fighting the scar guy.”

They blinked at her. “The – the scar guy? Did – did Ed just find out about Nina?”

Claire winced. “Yeah, that – that was hard to read.”

“Oh my god, you’re at the first Ed and Scar fight, you have no idea how far you have to go…” Krissy muttered.

“Hey!” Claire retorted indignantly.

Krissy smirked. “No offense. But hey – you have a favorite character yet?”

Claire snorted. “Obviously.”

Krissy and Claire kept talking about FMA until the warning bell rang. “Hey, give me your number?” Krissy asked as they pulled out their phone.

Claire rattled it off and Krissy typed out a text, clicking send.

Claire’s phone buzzed and she saved the contact. “Done,” she smiled. “I’ll let you know how far I get tonight.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Krissy replied cheerfully as they separated to head their classes.

*~*

After school let out, Claire and Kaia met back up to head back home. “How’d the meeting go?” Kaia asked, wrapping her hand around Claire’s.

“Fine, I guess,” Claire responded. “I made a friend. They’ve read FMA – recognized the symbol I was doodling.”

“That’s awesome!” Kaia smiled. “You’ll have to introduce me next time.”

“I will,” Claire promised.


	7. Cas IV

Time passed quickly after returning to school from Thanksgiving break. It seemed like Cas just blinked and then it was winter break; he and Dean had over a month of vacation to enjoy. But when his father sent an email reminding him of the family Christmas celebrations, Cas realized he had a choice to make. 

He checked in with Mary first, to ensure that he wouldn’t be intruding for the holidays, before making the call to his father, Dean right next to him for moral support.

“Ah, Castiel! Calling to let us know about your travel plans?” his father asked.

Cas took a deep breath. “Actually, Father…I thought I would spend the holidays here this year. With Claire, since she won’t have any other family around.” Cas crossed his fingers that his father would swallow the white lie. (Sam had taught him the habit, and he figured – silly and superstitious as it might be – he needed all the luck he could get.)

The silence on the other end of the phone was…ominous. “Hello?” Cas asked cautiously, hoping against hope that the call had been miraculously cut.

His father grunted. “I don’t know how your mother will feel about that…”

“I know, and I feel bad, but – it would be un-Christian to leave Claire alone, on her first Christmas without her family, and – and perhaps I would be able to convince her to see the light, renounce her sins and come home!” Cas lied.

“Hmm, interesting point, son,” Zachariah mused. “Alright. Alright, I’ll tell your mother, aunt and uncle the news. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” Cas replied before hanging up. 

“So?” Dean asked breathlessly.

Cas beamed at him. “He agreed! I’m spending the holidays with you and your family!”

Dean threw his arms around Cas in a celebratory hug. “This is going to be awesome,” he laughed.

Cas couldn’t help laughing too; it was going to be awesome.

*~*

Apparently the Winchesters went all out for Christmas – not that Cas should have been surprised, after Thanksgiving. There was a gigantic pine tree, filling the first floor with its soothing scent, and plenty of ornaments dangling from its branches. Most of them were handmade, but there were some antique-looking pieces interspersed here and there. Plenty of tinsel pretty much everywhere – the tree, the bannisters, the walls… It was a little overwhelming for Cas, Claire and Kaia, exactly how enthusiastically the family took to the holiday, but they were learning to just go with the flow and enjoy themselves.

By the time Christmas Day rolled around, Cas had gotten used to all the hubbub and excitement – joining in himself, in fact. He enjoyed getting to focus on the fun aspects of Christmas, the presents and spending time together, rather than the religious frugality his family preferred.

But after the presents had been unwrapped and the breakfast had been devoured, and the clean-up had only barely begun, there was a knock at the door.

“Who could that be?” Mary wondered as she went to answer the door. “Uh…can I help you?”

“I believe so,” came a drawl that caused Cas, Claire and Kaia all to freeze. “My son is inside.”

“You’re…Cas’ dad?” Cas absently heard Mary respond as his breathing started to pick up.

Kaia got up. “I – Claire, I have to – ” she whispered frantically.

“Yeah, yeah, go,” Claire whispered back, getting up to sit next to Cas and clutch his hand as Kaia fled.

“Guys? Why – Cas, did you know your dad was going to come?” Sam asked.

“No,” Cas forced out. “I had…no idea.”

Dean started to get up, but Cas held up a hand. “Not – not right now, Dean, please,” Cas whispered hurriedly before he heard the loud steps of his father entering the room.

“Castiel! There you are,” he boomed. “Didn’t mean to surprise you like this, but – well. The situation changed.”

Cas took a deep breath before turning to face his father. “I – what? What changed?”

The smug grin on his – on Zachariah’s face was unbearable. “My mother finally accepted a Christmas invitation, Castiel! Couldn’t have a family Christmas without my son around, of course.”

“And you didn’t call ahead?” Cas asked calmly.

Zachariah pursed his lips. “Well, you see – ”

“Oh shut up, Zachie, my god. I wanted to see my grandson, and I didn’t even think to make sure you called ahead. I forgot to because I’m old, boyo; what’s your excuse?” came an imperious voice.

“Mother,” Zachariah sighed as he looked up to the ceiling, “please don’t take the Lord’s – ”

“Yeah, yeah, Lord’s name in vain, yadda yadda. Out of the way, I’m not here for you,” the voice continued as a familiar face shouldered her way in front of Zachariah.

“G-Grandma?” Cas asked shakily.

“It’s me! Surprise!” she responded cheerfully. “Come give me a hug!” As Cas came over and hugged her, she whispered in his ear, “I’m so sorry, hon. I thought he told you.”

Cas just buried his face in her shoulder and breathed. His Grandma Irene had always been a kind but distant figure, sending plenty of gifts for all the holidays and calling every so often, but this was the first time he had seen her in person since he was little. 

“And Claire! Might not be mine by blood but you look like you need a hug anyway, c’mere!”

Claire shot a quick look at Cas before gingerly accepting the hug. Grandma Irene seemed to whisper something to her that put Claire at ease, and she melted into the hug.

“Now, what’s been going on here? It’s been dry as dirt with this one, which I’m sure you remember – be glad you got out of it this year, hon!”

“Mother, please, can’t we – ”

“Oh, shush, you have no idea how to celebrate Christmas, not like these fine folks! Look at this gorgeous tree – nothing like the smell of one of these – and oh goodness, I’ve interrupted the cleaning up! Here, let me help you with that,” she bustled off with the pile of paper and tape next to Dean.

Cas whipped back around to face Zachariah; if he looked at Dean, he was going to collapse, he just knew it. And he didn’t want to, not in front of – 

“Castiel, may I speak to you for a moment?” came the stern request.

Cas closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Of course, father,” he replied, squeezing Claire’s hand before following Zachariah out of the room.

“Son, I know you had planned to spend Christmas with your cousin, but – spending your time with this entire other family? Neglecting the Lord on his birthday? Why?” Zachariah asked.

“Did you know that Jesus was actually born in the spring?” Cas responded distantly. “His birthday was conflated with the pagan holiday of Yule to popularize Christianity.”

“Whether or not that is true isn’t the point, Castiel,” Zachariah hissed menacingly. “The *point* is why you lied to me, decided to spend your holiday, the holiday that should be spent in prayer, with these – these random people!”

Cas’ spine stiffened. “These random people? Have shown me more love in less than a year than you and Mother ever did in my entire life. This family cares about me, wants me to be happy, and – frankly – has shown me more Christian understanding and kindness than anyone in my supposedly religious family.”

Zachariah reared back, face ugly with rage. “How *dare* you – ”

“How dare he? More like how dare *you,* you – you cretin!” Grandma Irene walked up behind Cas and wrapped her arms around his shoulders as she glared at her hateful son. “You’ve mistreated your son for long enough – now that he’s finally found happiness, you want to take it away? For shame!”

“Mother, enough. I am his father, and – ”

“No.”

Zachariah turned to stare at Cas, who wavered for a second before standing tall once again. “You, Zachariah, may have been my sperm donor, but that is the only thing you have ever done for me. You and Mother both, I was just an extension of you – barely even that, most days! That is not parenthood, that’s – that’s just pressure! No, you’re not my father, and if that is the only thing that brought you here, you can leave right now,” Cas finished firmly.

Zachariah pursed his lips. “And who do you think has been paying for your schooling? The clothes on your back – ” 

Grandma Irene snorted. “Well, if that’s the only thing you’ve got left to hold over him, boyo, then you can walk right out the door – I can afford to take care of him until his trust fund kicks in.”

“I…I have a trust fund?” Cas asked quietly as Zachariah started to turn purple.

“You’ll regret this,” he gritted out as he stormed down the hallway.

Cas took a deep breath. “Oh, and Zachariah?”

The man paused.

“I’m gay. My boyfriend, Dean Winchester? He’s the best thing to have ever happened to me. He’s the reason I finally learned the meaning of family, and the reason that I will never, ever regret this.”

Zachariah’s shoulders stiffened. “And I suppose, Mother, that you would prefer to stay instead of returning with me?” he asked calmly.

“You got that right, boyo. I’m sure someone here will be willing to give me a ride home later. Go enjoy the hotline to God you’re so convinced you have.”

Off he went, slamming the door on his way out. 

Cas leaned more heavily into his grandmother’s hug. “I – did that really just happen?”

She gave his shoulders a squeeze. “Yeah it did, hon. C’mon, let’s go sit down and you can introduce me to your boyfriend.”

*~*

After Zachariah stormed off, the festive atmosphere slowly returned, even if Cas could feel everyone sneaking glances at him, trying to see if he was really okay as he said he was – but, surprisingly, he really did feel fine. Not even just fine – he finally felt free. His parents were finally out of his life, and his grandmother was making sure that little fact wouldn’t mean having to drop out of school; it didn’t get much better than that, right?

Or that’s what he thought, until Claire came back from checking on Kaia. “Cassie…did – did you talk to my parents? At all?”

“No,” Cas frowned. “The last time I talked to them was before Thanksgiving, and we didn’t talk much aside from confirming that I wouldn’t be coming this year.”

Claire stared down at her phone. “They just called me. Wanted to know how I was doing, and…they wanted to apologize.”

“Wow...” Cas breathed, shocked. “That’s…that’s big, for them.”

Claire bit her lip. “I know, but – ” 

Sam came and threw an arm around her shoulders. “I’m glad that they called, and you should probably talk to them soon, but today? Today it’s Christmas, and we deserve to celebrate, not stress!”

“You’re right,” Claire replied, taking a deep breath and smiling widely. “What do you guys usually do once everything’s cleaned up?”

“Poker tournament!” Dean and Sam cried at the same time. “Do you want to go ask Kaia?” Sam added as Dean ran off to grab the cards and the poker chips.

“Yeah. Yeah, let me ask her,” Claire smiled as she headed off herself.

Cas smiled as everyone gathered for the game – even Grandma Irene. Despite Zachariah, this was absolutely Cas’ favorite Christmas.

*~*

And the next week, when he officially changed his last name to Vogel (Grandma Irene’s maiden name) and finally cut the last tie to his biological parents, Cas couldn’t have been happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eventually, of course, it will be Castiel Winchester ;)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! For now, this is as much I have planned for this series; but there is likely to be more, I'm just not sure when inspiration will strike.


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